Sunday, October 16, 2011

Uncovering the history of the search

I really never know what I'm going to find when I look into the files in the filing cabinets of genealogy research left to me by my father and mother. It never fails to amaze me, in today's technology age, how much my parents achieved through letters! At the same time, it often brings frustration - first in understanding my mother's filing system - but also in finding that as her Alzheimer's took hold, she often misfiled pieces of paper and files. However, I can never be too thankful for the time she took to leave me the legacy of our family.

Today, I was working on writing the next post on the YODER family (Howard Harrison YODER who married Luella Drucilla SLACK); and came upon the notes from my mother about the Slack research. They began in 1959 with a copy of the family history of the Slacks given to her by her Aunt Leah (YODER) DAY. The information had been originally distributed at a Slack reunion in July 1926. Supposedly there is a copy of this in the file - but not something I can find. She continues searching through census, marriage records, historical records and DAR records, each providing another piece of the puzzle. In 1967, her father (Earl YODER) suggested that she write to Mildred (MASTERS) COLDIRON about the family - although no response at that time. Mildred did write my mother in 1977, asking for Slack information. How different that was then today - when a simple search of her name on Ancestry.com to figure out the relation - a true cousin of my grandfather Earl.

In addition, my mother corresponded with Harold CROWL who descended from a sister of Luella Drucilla SLACK who was known as "Della." What is most fun - is that his son and I have been corresponding and sharing pictures through Ancestry for over 2 years about our respective families! What writing is causing, is the effort to go through each file, look at the collection of documents achieved by my mother, and realize she did this as a labor of love and respect for our past.